Christine Michel Carter presents No Country for Mothers: A Maryland Community Screening & Conversation

Mothers have long been expected to figure it out. Childcare. Work. Leave. School schedules. Aging parents. Healthcare. During National Family Caregivers Month, and the night before Maryland Family Caregiver Day, join journalist, author, and advocate Christine Michel Carter in Baltimore County for a free screening of Moms First’s documentary No Country for Mothers, followed by a public conversation about what it actually takes to raise and care for a family in Maryland today. Childcare falls through, leave runs out, a child gets sick, an aging parent needs help, and work keeps moving as if none of it happened. Somehow, somebody makes it work. But “making it work” can hide how much women are being asked to absorb. The film looks at the systems behind that, and asks why mothers spend so much time fighting over one another’s choices. Working mom or stay-at-home. Tradwife or girlboss. Meanwhile, most face the same problems: childcare they can’t find or afford, thin leave, workplaces not built for caregiving. This night isn’t about who is mothering the “right” way. You don’t have to agree politically with every woman in the room. Motherhood and caregiving cross those lines. After the film, mothers and caregivers will share their stories alongside civic leaders, advocates, employers, and community groups. We’ll ask: What have we gotten too used to calling “normal”? Where can people who disagree politically still find common ground? What would meaningful progress look like for Maryland families? Then: what do I want to do with what I heard? Maybe that’s asking your employer to rethink a policy, calling an elected official, or sharing your story. Or maybe it’s realizing that what you’ve managed quietly is happening all around you. You don’t need to arrive as an advocate. Come because you’re tired of figuring it all out alone. We spend a lot of time asking mothers how they’re going to make it work. On this night, we’re asking what needs to work better for them. Free and open to the public. Registration required.